Are You Well Informed About UK Employment Law?

What you don't know about UK employment law could cost you dearly. As an employer, it's your business to know about the laws that govern the way you relate to your employees. Your responsibility starts the minute you set up a company and start to employ people, as you need to make sure that you are registered to take tax and national insurance payments and also for health and safety. This responsibility begins at the recruitment phase and doesn't end until an employee has left your company. Here are some of the issues you need to consider.

UK employment law kicks in the minute you start thinking about hiring someone. There are rules to govern who is allowed to work in your company and whether they will need to get a work permit to do the job. When placing an advertisement, employers must be careful not to discriminate or imply discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, sexuality, age, disability or religious belief. The pay rate for those doing the same job should be equal, regardless of gender.

UK Employment Milestones

The next milestone comes when you agree to hire someone. Under UK employment law, you must provide certain information to the employee when you do this. This information may be in a letter or contract and should include information about how much they will be paid, what hours they will work, how much holiday they can take, and what procedures are in place if either they or you have a grievances.

Once your employees are on site, many other aspects of UK employment law come into play. Health and safety aspects are particularly important. Employees may be entitled to breaks depending on the type of work they are doing, or may need protective gear for handling dangerous substances. As an employer you will have to assess the risks in your working environment and take steps to minimise or eliminate those risks altogether.

The whole question of pay can be a minefield for employers. First of all, there's the minimum wage to consider. You need to know which of your workers is entitled to which pay band, and then remember to change the pay every year when the rate rises. You also need to keep track of the right pay for maternity, paternity and adoption leave. With UK employment law, there is so much to keep track of that many people choose to get expert help and outsource their human resources management.

Deminos are HR Outsourcing and employment law specialists. To find out more please call us on 020 7870 1090 or visit http://www.deminos.co.uk